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That is not a gesture indicating something positive. I’m drawing attention to a very painful left thumb. One minute, it was fine. Suddenly, at the joint, sharp pain. Revelation: The thumb is involved in everything we do!! Who would imagine that the left thumb would put a stop to activities?

Two days of intensive research of the Martin family. Research… and creation of these collage images. It is impossible to get all the ancestors on one fan chart (impossible with Ancestry.com). I have to patch images together. I was fascinated with the number of “cousin marriages” in the Martin family. I’m only remotely related to the family; frankly, there’s no reason to add them to my Frantz family tree. But I was fascinated… and the more I documented the more I observed the connections. I say “observed” because another subscriber to Ancestry.com might not see—or remember—the repetition of names. I have more than thirty-five years of genealogical research behind me and I have never seen anything similar. There were numerous cousin marriages among my Coffin family ancestors living on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. There are cousin marriages between my Old German Baptist Brethren ancestors but, repeat, “I have never seen anything similar.”  I did a Google search on consanguineous marriage and that is an interesting subject.

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Many, many months ago, an HEB employee generously gave me many boxes that he had emptied and flattened. I recognized that the size was better than the boxes I purchased at Walmart. I have books to pack and mail—and lifting heavy boxes is almost impossible. Using Gorilla tape, I assembled four boxes.

Horray, I’m on my way—with a few more baby steps. (No climbing the family tree.)

Nothing was transferred to the car to join donations. I juggled things around and put things in different containers (and stashed them in the bedroom). Also did a load of laundry because some of the clothing items will join donations. A few more small steps in my downsizing project. Much cooler today and an “indoor projects” kind of day.

Yesterday, in addition to outdoor projects, I spent time “climbing the family tree.” I repeat “Obituaries are a gold mine of information.”

…begins with a few faltering steps. At the Saturday Big Breakfast, Mr. Red seriously declared it is time for “Spring Cleaning” and the residents need to “get rid of the clutter in their carports.” Ouch, that’s aimed at me!! This afternoon I made some headway. Tomorrow I’ll do even more?

In addition, I dumped a container of “stuff” in the Park dumpster. So, today I took some baby steps toward the absolutely necessary downsizing.

 
 
 
 
Perhaps the reader is not addicted to the documentation of their family history in Ancestry.com. Here is an example that illustrates my statement that “obituaries are a gold mine of information.”  A cousin sent the obituary last night and I’m documenting it this morning. Russell is my fourth cousin one-time-removed. I look forward to visiting with him in Heaven.

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From a friend, a blog message with details regarding the passing of a loved one.

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